


Get Free

by TonicClaw



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Code, Developing Relationship, Fluff in a Bucket, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, but it's happy at the end, just a lot of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 15:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14918342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TonicClaw/pseuds/TonicClaw
Summary: Zacharie then said,“Don’t! It’s ok to let out the bad emotions you keep bottled up. Please, just listen to another voice than the one inside your head!”





	Get Free

**Author's Note:**

> There is a lot going on in this fic and it's all over the place and real angsty so please don't kill me if it doesn't make sense all that much. In this Zacharie and Batter break free of there default code (that is also a small excuse to make it the way i did)
> 
> This was mostly inspired by a song by Lana Del Rey called Get Free (and some other songs as well) and i wrote this in one go. 
> 
> please enjoy the mess that is this fic

It was a fairly cold morning Zacharie noted as he uncovered himself from his sheets, not really ready to go to his office and find his stuff stolen (again). As he put on his sweater he looked out the corner window and saw that the outside was all white and when he got his shoes he sighed. Zacharie tied his laces and headed out the door, he wasn't ready to face the death again no matter how many times he had to be forced to participate in the bringing of it.

As Zacharie walked he heard the bells in the distance and he felt sick, it wasnt in the code- for him to feel much but when it was the end of the game he just tried to forget that he would have to relive everything again in a matter of time.

When Zacharie got to his office door he looked down and saw an envelope with dried bits of blood on the side and he bent down and picked it up. It read,

 

_Hello, I would like to express the concern with how I see you feel. I can sympathize with the sadness you are experiencing on behalf of the color being lost, though I need to complete what I have started._

_There will be no distractions, no error, no impurities._

_\- Batter_

 

Zacharie sighed heavily and opened the door, to find his office intact and The Batter seemingly asleep on one of the chests. Zacharie froze...was The Batter here to kill him? That wouldn’t be possible, he knew that but..it didn’t stop the ache of fear from enveloping his body choking him out. Zacharie quietly closed the door and set the letter down and as silently as possible, he shoved off his shoes. He slowly, very slowly approached The Batter and bent his body a bit to look under his hat to see the man’s closed darkened eyes and got up and relaxed a little. No distractions, huh? Well now knowing he could work on pricing without having to be on his toes (as much) he sat down and started.

An amount of time passed and he was almost done writing the little numbers on the second to last tag when a noise startled him and he lost his direct thought process for a moment but in the same moment he got up as soon as he heard it. He was clear across the room before he could tell that The Batter had shifted his weight. When he saw Batter sniffing the air he stood dead still and held his breath.

 

_This is it, no going back, no time for escape, nothing._

 

The Batter opened his eyes and quickly grabbed his bat and got up- though just as he was about to run towards his opponent he looked around the room he was in and then stood still and noticed some things. No add-ons, only chests a bag and...a person. Batter slowly walked over to who he now recognized as Zacharie and growled as he stared at him, Batter felt himself begin to shift his form and he didn’t mind killing Zacharie sooner, he could just take all of the things he needed when he was done. Something stopped him just as, a look in the eyes of the mask, tears running down the bit of cheek he could see. He felt like time shot him, dead in his heart and reversed his mind to a more simple time with...Hugo..and Vander…

Zacharie watched The Batter slowly change back as he dropped his bat and grabbed him in an embrace. The Batter cried as he apologized quietly over and over, not realizing who he was holding and when he felt shaky arms wrap around him in return he lost it. Zacharie put his arms around The Batter and he feels him break down, he guided him to the floor and he held Batter as close as he could. Zacharie felt his shoulder get drenched in tears, he felt how Batter’s body shook, he felt the sheer amount of pain he was in. He made a guess on what made Batter act this way, he was so blinded by his death filled quest...he forgot about his feelings- shoved them away. Zacharie needed to be there, even if it was only for this playthrough just to show he cared enough to do it in the first place.

The Batter coughed horribly and sniffed as he tried to stop crying, tried to _stop_ but the tears just kept going. Zacharie let him lay on his lap and he rubbed his shoulder with his thumb. This kept up for what felt like hours, Zacharie’s back getting sore but he tried not to notice, he was here for Batter. When Batter started to slow his breathing and stop crying Zacharie lifted Batter’s head to meet his mask and Batter- in simple terms, looked absolutely wrecked. Zacharie lifted his mask and kept it there, past his mouth and he looked at Batter’s eyes widening when he took it off completely. Batter was then snapped back to the cold reality of who he was letting see the _weak_ and _pointless_ side of himself. Batter shoved himself back and grabbed his bat.

 

Zacharie then said,

 

“Don’t! It’s ok to let out the bad emotions you keep bottled up. Please, just listen to another voice than the one inside your head!”

 

Batter looked at his shoulder, where Zacharie was rubbing it for who knows how long and he felt. He just felt, he didn’t know what it was but he tried to pack it away again. Zacharie saw this and he did the only thing he thought he could do, and when he did it, it felt like he broke out of something, a weight that was there suddenly gone. As he hugged Batter again he felt free, he felt like a man finally getting released after so many years. He hugged Batter like his life was in between them and the only way to keep it safe was to keep in the embrace. Batter didn’t want to escape the mess he had created for himself, he didn’t want to feel guilty knowing that he killed so many and he didn’t want to face it.

 

Zacharie knew what to say and he responded with,

 

“I’ll face it with you- whatever you’re feeling right now, whatever you need. I’ll be right by your side”

 

Batter felt the break as well, like he could finally breathe. He hugged Zacharie just as tightly and they stayed that way for a couple of minutes then Zacharie groaned “oh oh I- I need to get up, my back hurts amigo.” So Zacharie got up begrudgingly and stretched and Batter winced at how loud the pops were.

 

* * *

 

Batter agreed to sitting by the Pedalo ride and just hang out for a while. As Batter took off his cleats he noticed that Zacharie put the frog mask on and Batter blurted “You can leave it off, I see no reason for you to wear it when it is only the two of us” Zacharie only registered half of that sentence before he set to his default answer...but then stopped, he couldn’t remember his default. So he just answered “I’m not..ready enough to take it off again.” Batter looked up at the bill of his cap, he would only take off his hat when he needed to, like for running when it wouldn’t stay. He then responded with a knock to the ground to get Zacharie’s attention and Zacharie turn his body and looked up slowly and moved his body upwards to show that he acknowledged the thump.

 

It was now Batter’s time to be supportive,

 

“If it would make you feel any better, you..you don’t need to take off your mask but I’ll take off my hat- but I’ll wait until _you_ are ready to take it off, I won’t bother you with the questions anymore.”

 

And with that he inhaled and took off his hat.

 

His hair was sticking up and he had to close his eyes, he didn’t want to see.. he was actually doing this.

 

A minute passed and Batter was expecting a laugh or something but when he opened his eyes he saw Zacharie still sitting there hugging his backpack- hadn’t moved an inch.

“Wow..” that was it. Though the quiet amazement made Batter a little flustered, he wanted to cover his face but he took off his hat because Zacharie needed encouragement and he, strangely- wanted to make him happy. As Batter rolled his pants up a little more he thought about how he saw Zachaire’s face, a little scarred but young- his face was like it never left the age of 25. His eyes were ones of kindness by design and his mouth was thin and it made him more put together when he imagined him smile. Out of his thoughts and back to Zacharie now turned forward, legs criss crossed and hands in his lap. The Batter took off his socks and slowly put his sore feet in the warm running plastic and he sighed in relief, he leaned and got his socks and cleats and shoved them to the side past his hat and away from the splashes he might make.

 

Batter and Zacharie sat there for a couple of minutes in silence as they wondered collectively as what to say for conversation. Zacharie was first to talk and as he looked at Batter, his feet..in the plastic he asked,

“Won’t your feet get stuck- or burnt, amigo? I don’t think that it’s safe to dip your toes in the plastic”

 

The Batter acknowledged with a hum, though he didn’t really care all that much.

 

So they sat there in the quiet of the company they gave each other, no worries, just a content glow. Nothing could ever ruin it for them.


End file.
